This insightful study delves into the intricate relationship between key digital finance adoption indicators and the stability of the banking sector in Ethiopia, an emerging economy undergoing rapid digitalization. Covering annual data from 1991 to 2022 and utilizing an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach alongside Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) techniques, the researchers uncover thought-provoking findings that challenge conventional wisdom. Contrary to expectations of a positive long-term association, the analysis reveals a statistically significant negative relationship between both internet usage and mobile phone subscriptions and Ethiopia's banking system's financial stability. This robust result, validated through rigorous robustness checks, suggests that the breakneck pace of digital transformation may outpace the development of robust regulatory frameworks and risk management practices, ultimately undermining the overall stability of the financial sector. Interestingly, the short-term analysis presents a more nuanced picture, with mobile phone subscriptions exhibiting a stabilizing effect in the immediate aftermath. This intriguing dichotomy highlights the complex and evolving dynamics at play, where the challenges of integrating digital finance with the traditional banking infrastructure and the persistence of informal financial activities potentially offset the benefits of enhanced financial inclusion and transaction efficiency. These thought-provoking findings carry crucial implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders navigating the digital revolution. Policy implications emphasize the need for robust regulatory frameworks, enhanced cyber security measures, and improved financial literacy. The findings underscore the importance of a nuanced approach to digital finance in emerging economies, advocating for continuous adaptation of policies to address the evolving landscape of financial technology. Continued inquiry can better guide policies that foster digital transformation while safeguarding stability, especially in rapidly developing regions like sub-Saharan Africa. Graphical Abstract

This study conducts a rigorous examination of relationships that are often assumed but rarely tested within the context of Ethiopia's journey towards sustainable development. An autoregressive distributed lag model is employed using annual time series data from 1982 to 2021 to investigate the short- and long-term impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances, real exchange rates, and imports on Ethiopia's economic growth. By incorporating additional control variables, this study contributes nuanced insights that were previously lacking in the literature. The findings reveal intriguing patterns that both align with and deviate from existing frameworks. Contrary to some prior studies, foreign investment consistently emerges as a significant driver of economic growth over time. However, remittances demonstrate only transient significance, highlighting the need for cautious policy considerations. The influence of exchange rates on economic growth proves to be unexpectedly complex and nonlinear, challenging conventional assumptions. The empirical validation of these multifaceted realities underscores the importance of this analysis. Furthermore, robustness tests conducted in this study confirm the reliability of the findings while shedding light on additional intricacies. For instance, the relationship between imports and growth is context-dependent and exhibits ambiguities that call for careful consideration. The theoretical and practical implications derived from this research offer valuable insights for researchers and policymakers alike. The recommendations put forth emphasize the promotion of sustained prosperity through evidence-based strategies that prioritize community development.

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is increasingly being recognised as a key enabler of trust, transparency, and accountability in Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS). This research performs a systematic literature review of 225 peer-reviewed articles from 2015 to 2025 to discuss the current status of XAI in healthcare, outline dominant research trends, and shed light on emerging challenges. The results show a tenfold rise in global research output, driven by the need for explainable models to enhance diagnostic performance, patient safety, and clinician trust. The thematic clustering results in six main themes, including technical frameworks, human-centred design, ethical aspects, and regulatory compliance. Besides the technical contributions, this review underlines how interdisciplinary findings from the social sciences, ethics, and information science can provide the basis for defining responsible, sustainable use of XAI in the healthcare industry. This study concludes by providing practical recommendations and a research agenda that allow for human-AI collaboration, fairness, and transparency with consistency in policies.

This study investigates how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance is shaped across 31 countries in the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 1990 to 2020. To explore these relationships, we employed the Continuously Updated Generalized Method of Moments (CUE-GMM) and the Limited Information Maximum Likelihood (LIML), with additional robustness checks using Instrumental Variables Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS), Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE), and Driscoll-Kraay regressions. The results highlight democratic governance as a consistent driver of ESG advancement. Military expenditure can also support sustainability by reinforcing institutional stability, particularly in developing and upper-middle-income countries. Economic factors such as foreign direct investment, industrialization, and human capital show context-dependent effects, whereas globalization and natural resource rents generally enhance ESG performance, and inflation tends to constrain it. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of tailored, context-specific sustainability policies, showing that effective ESG progress depends on the interaction between institutions, economic structures, and global integration.